Rain Barrels & Cisterns

When the urban runoff from thousands of individual homes in LA comes together, whether it’s from wasteful practices or natural rainfall, it can end up carrying trash, debris, oil, grease, fertilizers and other toxic chemicals, in addition to bacteria and viruses, into our local waterways. Clearly, this has a huge impact on our local…

When a program is 400% oversubscribed, you know you’ve got a winner. That’s what we found out over the last two years with the Rainwater Harvesting Pilot Program conducted by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, the California Coastal Conservancy and the City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program. In fact, we at LA Stormwater are so…

With the success of last year’s L.A. Rainwater Harvesting Program and the public’s continued interest, we thought an instructional video about how to install a rain barrel at your home would be helpful! Watch our step-by-step guide to find out what materials to use, why choosing the right location is important, how to connect your…

The LA Stormwater Program was on hand for this year’s Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase on April 25th in celebration of Earth Day (and groovy gardens!). The event was organized by Mar Vista Green Committee to give area residents a glance at the creative and inexpensive ways to conserve outdoor water use. One thing we…

Good news! The LA Stormwater Program has successfully completed the City’s first Rainwater Harvesting Pilot Program at the end of March! The even better news? As a result of the pilot, 600 Los Angeleno homeowners and eight commercial building owners received and installed free rain barrels and planter boxes to collect rainwater and reduce urban…

We’ve received an overwhelming number of residential applicants for the L.A. Rainwater Harvesting Program, so we thank you for your interest and commitment to protecting water quality! We do still have available spots for businesses that are interested in receiving a FREE, custom-made planter box. These tailored planter boxes help beautify the property and treat…

The City of Los Angeles is seeking a rain barrel installation expert willing to participate as an instructor in a City of Los Angeles “How To” video.*The video will serve as a tool for residents who are looking to install a rain barrel at their property. The video will be available online as well as…

Today’s rain has put those newly installed Rainwater Harvesting barrels to work! All of you who have already received your barrels know that they fill up quickly. One good thing to note is that the barrels come equipped with spouts to allow for additional barrels to be hooked up and collect overflow. Also, we’ve read…

Tomorrow is the last day (for residents) to submit an application for the Rainwater Harvesting program. If you have not yet submitted your application, please make sure to do so ASAP at www.larainwaterharvesting.org Please note that businesses are still encouraged to apply after tomorrow’s deadline.

The Homegrown Evolution blog, kicked off its very fist podcast with a story about the LA Rainwater Harvesting program! Erik Knutzen interviews Wing Tam (LA Stormwater) about the program in the second half of the podcast. The show is concluded with a reaction to the Rainwater Harvesting program from Joe Linton (LA Creek Freak blog).…